Studying
by sheffers
Summary: Missing moment from Half-Blood Prince. Harry watches and helps Ginny study for her OWL examinations.


Studying

Harry stifled a yawn as he pulled off his Invisibility Cloak as he turned round the seventh floor corridor towards the Gryffindor common room. He had spent another two fruitless hours trying to get into the Room of Requirement, as Ginny had insisted that she needed to do some revision, after not managing to do any all weekend, due to a couple of other things taking up her time.

"Quid agis," he muttered to the portrait of the Fat Lady as she swung open for him.

Harry paused in the entrance to the room as he watched his girlfriend as she sat alone in a corner, ignoring the distractions from her friends as she focused on her book, instead of being in the midst of conversations.

Realising that when she studied in a group of friends, she rarely got much done, Ginny had taken to revising alone. As they talked, they would get distracted which resulted in fits of laugher that had nothing to do with the effects of practising Cheering Charms. Having more self-discipline than himself and Ron last year, Ginny had taken to revising alone, determined to achieve good grades in her OWLs so she could do what she wanted to do in life if she failed to get a place in the Holyhead Harpies and with the side benefit of not aggravating her mother. She was positive that if she kept her focus in intensive sessions, she could enjoy the sunlit days by the lake at the weekends. Unfortunately, this frequently meant long Harry-free evenings.

Ginny's knees were hooked up, feet resting at the end of the cushy armchair as her legs provided a rest for an enormous blue book. There was a huge piece of parchment hanging out the end of the book as her eyes scanned across the page, focused on the single activity of revision. Most of her bright red hair had fallen out of her loose ponytail, which she normally wore for lessons, framing her face and drawing his focus to lips where a quill currently rested. She dropped the quill, letting it fall straight onto the book, as she stifled a yawn. Her hand ran through her hair, pulling it out of her ponytail and letting the vibrant red hair fall over her pale skin, before biting her lip and returning to the quill, the notes and the book.

He couldn't help but be mesmerised by her. Unconsciously, he slumped in a corner watching her, in ripped jeans and a black vest top, thinking that she was by far the most attractive woman in the castle. There was no doubting that Ginny's looks were stunning; any warm-bodied male that saw her would tell you that she looked incredible. However, what people didn't realise until they spoke to her, and then it became very obvious, was that Ginny was as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside.

Radiating energy, passion and a fun sense of life, she was captivating. Ginny did not have to be doing impressions on the Quidditch pitch, holding animated conversations or flashing a sly grin, where the interesting details lay in the questions, to be the most interesting witch he knew. Right now, there was nothing more attractive than to watch her work at achieving her goals.

Ron was right; smart girls were very sexy. Although he doubted that he should say those words out loud. His oldest friend would not want his little sister thought of in that context, especially when Harry was sure that Ron saved those words for a certain brunette.

Slowly, Harry walked across the room until he was standing before her. He was close enough to count the freckles, to see her teeth gently biting against her lip and watch her left hand running along the print of _Complementary Lives of European Muggles_ by Wilhelm Wigworthy, before she noticed his presence. He watched her right hand dance across the piece of old parchment as more curvy writing was added to the exhaustive list of notes.

"It's rude to stare, Harry," she muttered, her eyes still fixed on the book as she scribed a few more words to paper.

"Well," he stuttered, slightly taken aback; he didn't think she even knew that he had entered the common room, "I wasn't staring, just come to see you."

"Really?" she questioned, her eyebrows raised and the corners of her lips twisting as if she was resisting the urge to smile, as she turned to look at him before she looked back down at the book. "It looked like you were staring."

"I wasn't staring!" he said, a little more bluntly and defiantly than he had intended.

"That's nice," Ginny commented, her tone somewhere between amused and slightly annoyed with him. She looked up and fixed her brown eyes on his green ones as she straightened her face. "So are you trying to say," her hand ran through the hair before gesturing to her breasts and then her legs, "there's nothing worth staring at here?"

Harry's mouth dropped a little. There certainly was something worth staring at. All the heads turned as Ginny Weasley walked down the corridor. She had a petite, thin, athletic figure that, when wearing the right clothes, highlighted her curves and sports-toned body. Her long hair was vivid and danced behind her back as she moved. Her best feature was her chocolate brown eyes. In his book, that was definitely more than enough to stare at, but he doubted that would be the right thing to say. It would more than likely unleash Ginny's fiery temper if he spoke those words and she thought he was just another guy who was only interested in looks.

His mouth closed as he looked at her, really looked at her this time, seeing past the games that she was playing with him. She had a mischievous spirit and right now he knew that she was more amused at the situation than annoyed with him and was just trying to make him sweat, but that still didn't mean he knew what to say. She had such a quick wit that she could turn any of his words round in a split second. However, the one thing he did know for sure was as long as his girlfriend's hand stayed away from her wand, currently resting on the table before her, he was safe and she was just choosing to have a bit of fun with him.

Ginny didn't always play fair, but whether she was playing fair or not, there were always pleasurable consequences to her games. It was just a case of going along with them, letting them play out and enjoying what happened. Ginny Weasley was a very smart girl, especially when it concerned what they should be doing. Some of her ideas, such as late night visits to the Astronomy Tower, were inspired.

Trusting his instincts, he decided to go with his gut as he answered her; it had never let him down in the past and he'd always had so much fun playing his games. "Oh, there's something to stare at."

The corners of her mouth twitched again; she was forcibly fighting against letting a smile grace her lips now, before she spoke, "So you were staring."

"So what if I was." His arms flew up into the air in mock surrender. "You are the most attractive witch in this school, and for some bizarre reason, you've agreed to go out with me. That gives me as much right as I want to stare."

"Witch?" she questioned. She was trying to keep the conversation light-hearted. She struggled to keep the redness out of her cheeks, although her voice didn't give away any sign of emotion. Ginny was an exceptional actress but if you managed to catch her off her guard you could see her real emotions. However, as with many good actresses, it would only take a fleeting second for her face to return to character. "So I don't compare then to Mrs Norris?"

He grinned at her. "Come on, Ginny, you can't expect to compete with Mrs Norris."

A warm laugh left her mouth as she smiled back at him. "True, I doubt even Phlegm could compete with her," she replied as she placed the book, with quill and parchment still in it, on the small table in front of her. "So, how come you came back from the library before Ron and Hermione?"

"Bickering," he lied convincingly before changing the topic. He didn't want to involve Ginny in anything that could get her hurt, anything that involved Voldemort and his Death Eaters. And he knew just how Ginny, along with both Ron and Hermione, thought he was wasting time trying to work out what Draco Malfoy was up to. He shrugged his shoulders a little as he offered her a small smile. "How's the revision going?"

"Very slowly and very boringly," she sighed, glancing at the huge book, a frown creasing her face for a second. "Part of me says that if I don't know this rubbish by now, I never will. And how many OWLs do you really need to play Quidditch anyway? It's probably better to have fewer ones as that will stop you worrying about the Bludgers."

Harry laughed. "Don't let Hermione hear you say that."

"Oh, I won't," she replied, with a small grin, "even though I'm sure I could win any debate with her, I have limited time to spend with the Gryffindor sixth years and would prefer to use that time doing other things. I can be very persuasive when I want to be."

"Oh, I know. So," he asked as he rested his arms on the back of the chair, "what can I do to help?"

She smiled at him as she reached for his arm and purred, "Nothing, nothing work-related anyway. You'll only end up distracting me." She let out a small sigh, letting her hand clasp his, looking like distraction was exactly the thing she wanted at that moment. "Besides, you didn't take Muggle Studies, Harry."

He felt a soft pull on his arm as he climbed into the chair with her. He could have easily resisted if he'd wanted to; he was much stronger than she was and could easily overpower her, but he didn't. Sharing that chair with her, despite the limited room, was the only place that he wanted to be. It was amazing how her petite body fitted so naturally with his. It was almost as if someone had deemed their bodies to work so well together. He gave her a soft smile.

Pulling himself over the chair, he pulled himself over the armrest. Slipping down the rest, he felt her shift her waist as she moved up the chair before falling back on his lap. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he kissed her softly on her forehead. If he could stay like this forever, he would be a very happy man.

Ginny smiled at him as she made a half-hearted attempt to reach back towards the book. Harry caught her hand in his, and their fingers interwove. "But I did grow up with Muggles."

"Okay, I'll try anything once," she said as her hand let go of his and found its way to Harry's leg, "so, what do you know about the French, then?"

"I know how they kiss," he offered, jumping at the opportunity to fulfil another of his dreams. "Do you want me to show you?"

"Well," her eyes were twinkling with mischief, revealing all the flecks of amber that were mixed in with the warm brown, "I really shouldn't turn down any revision aids."

Harry placed his thumb underneath her chin and tilted her face upwards. His nose brushed against hers as he moved his body closer, his hands running through her hair and down her back, her mouth slightly open. Their tongues briefly touched before he pulled away, leaving her wanting more.

"I think I need to reread that page," she said softly.

Ginny's hands rested in his hair as she pulled him back closer to her. Her lips met his again gently as she used her tongue to push open his mouth. Their tongues started an intimate dance as they explored each other's mouths. His hands moved back along her body; he could feel his hands pushing against her pale skin as her summer top brushed against his arms. His heart pounded as he felt her leg pushing against his as her knee rose to his waist.

"Harry! Ginny!" Hermione's voice rang in shocked tones.

The pair of them broke apart instantly. Harry felt his face flush and saw an equal redness in Ginny's. He felt like a guilty school boy, which was exactly what he was. He didn't regret kissing Ginny, he never did, but a small part of him thought that they shouldn't be showing that kind of affection in public. However, if they hadn't been in the common room, there was a fairly large part of him that would have wanted to take it much further than it had gone.

Hermione strode towards them. Anyone would have thought that she was either of their mothers and not their friend. While Harry was sure she was amused at what she'd just seen, she wasn't showing any signs of it right now.

"Ron's just checking some books out for that Inferius essay; he should be up any minute."

"Your point being?" Ginny asked, glaring at her.

He was amazed at how calm she had become so quickly. He was feeling flustered about Hermione catching them. Hermione catching them was almost like his sister walking in on them, although, as she had tactfully pointed out, it was still better than Ron walking in on them.

Ron was still not keen on the idea of them dating, no matter what he said. He didn't like the simplest of kisses, let alone the passionate ones. Instead, his best friend would turn his head away and sometimes make gagging noises that were only partly put on. This made one part of him very eager to expose Ron to his lakeside sessions and another far more sensible part of him willing to be grateful that he didn't see the steamy part to their relationship.

"That Ron will jump for his wand if he sees the two of you like that," Hermione said without skipping a beat. "Besides, you said that you were going to be revising earlier."

"I was," Ginny spat back at her, in a tone that made it perfectly clear that she was sick to death of studying, "revising, earlier, and Harry, well, he was just helping me with it, being a year older and having done his OWLs last year."

"Strange type of revision." Hermione said in almost waspish tones.

"I have enough family to lecture me," Ginny said coolly as she got to her feet, glaring at her friend. "I'm revising, I'm determined to get good OWLs," she declared in angry tones as she picked up the book, "but I also enjoy having a bit of fun. There's more to life that getting straight 'O's." She pulled the book closer to her chest. "And I really don't want to hear anymore, so, I'm off to bed." She gave him a quick kiss. "'Night, Harry."

"'Night," he replied.

She crossed over to the other side of the common room and Harry watched as she headed up towards the girls' dormitories. He couldn't keep her eyes off her as her hair swayed behind her as she headed upstairs. Wishing that he could follow her up those stairs to her bedroom, he almost left his chair to go after her.

Hermione turned her head away from the entrance to the girls' dormitory and waited a few more seconds until she could no longer hear any noise on the stairway. "Harry, we need to have a serious conversation about Ginny and her OWLs."

Harry looked at her for a couple of seconds. He quickly tried think of a quick response, any kind of answer that would stop his friend from uttering her next words because he was sure nothing good was about to come out of her mouth. If Hermione had bugged him about his and Ron's revision he had a feeling she was going to be much worse now. After all, it had been Hermione who had been the person who was willing to challenge him last year.

He couldn't help but let a small smile creep across his lips. Ginny had always challenged him, just as she had done many times last year. He remembered the image of windswept Ginny bearing chocolate in her hands. It wasn't just the chocolate that had made him feel better that day.

"Harry?" Hermione said, jogging him out of his memories.

"Yeah?"

"Ginny."

"Come on, Hermione," he moaned at her, "do you seriously think that anyone could tell Ginny what to do? Do you honestly think she'll listen to what you have to say if it doesn't go along with she wants?"

"She listens to you and it's you who's stopping her from spending those extra hours revising by late nights in the common room and Sundays by the lake."

Harry tuned out the rest of Hermione's lecture about OWLs that seemed to go on and on. Instead, he slumped into the chair that Ginny had so recently vacated and, while one of his best friends ranted endlessly, he cast his mind back to last Sunday and the unusual studying tactics they had used when Ginny had been revising for History of Magic that Hermione was currently rattling on about. That study session had included Ginny studying him and a very long, enjoyable kiss.

That form of studying was actually very enjoyable.

~Fin~


End file.
